Sophia Jones, Strong Pitching Leads Raiders to 2 Victories over Tallahassee

NICEVILLE, FL - The Northwest Florida Softball team battled for 2 more wins tonight against Panhandle foe Tallahassee Community College to improve to 41-5 this season. The 2 wins tonight propeled the Raiders into sole first place in the Panhandle Conference with a record of 8-2. 

GAME 1

In game 1 tonight, the Raiders were down for most of the night until the bottom of the 6th inning when Gyvan Hammons dropped a single into shallow left field, scoring Kamrn Carver and Sophia Jones to take a 5-4 lead. A sacrifice fly in the top of the 7th knotted the game at 5 and it stayed tied until the Eagles took the lead in the top of the 9th on a single into left field with bases loaded, scoring one run before the 2nd runner was plugged at the plate on a great relay from Hammons to Kassidy Hood to Riley Gibson for the tag. In the bottom of the 9th, Layla Thompson got the Raiders started with a single into center field, followed by a double from Abigail Pippen into deep right field. With 2 outs and runners on 2nd and 3rd, freshman right fielder Sophia Jones stepped up to the plate and hit a bomb to right center for a 3-run Walk-Off Home Run. 

Sophia Jones was electric for the Raiders in the first game, going 4-5 at the plate with a double and the walk-off home run and tallying up 5 RBIs. Abigail Pippen was huge for the Raiders, going 3-5 with a double in the 9th inning. Gyvan Hammons was 2-5, with 2 RBIs while Layla Thompson and Sydney Stewart were the other Raiders in game 1 with multi-hits, Thompson going 2-5 at the plate and Stewart going 2-4. 

Julia Petty went the distance in the game 1 win, throwing all 9 innings, tallying 160 pitches and striking out 7 Eagles while only allowing 6 hits. Petty has now struck out 152 batters this season and improves her record to 22-3.

GAME 2

In game 2, the bats were a lot more quiet for both teams as Northwest Florida tallied 6 hits with Abigail Pippen leading the way with 2 hits and the lone RBI in the game. In the bottom of the 6th inning, Gyvan Hammons led the inning off with an infield single. Maycie Hardy's ground ball moved Hammons into scoring position and Pippen brought in Gyvan on a line drive up the middle to score the game's only run in the 2nd game of the night. 

Allison Brunson was dominant in the circle for the Raiders as the sophomore righty pitched all 7 innings, allowing only 2 hits and 1 walk, while striking out 7 batters. Brunson was very effective as she threw 85 pitches in her 7 innings of work, 61 of them being strikes. Brunson improves to 9-1 on the year and sports a 1.77 ERA.